“Well, we cleared out most of the big baddies on Emerilia, and all that’s there is people building stuff. Thought there would be a bit more to do here. Plus I get nice rides to cool new Jukal planets, see a different sun, breathe different air...”
“You don’t breathe,” Gurren interrupted.
“Not the point!” Steve said with an indignant air at having been interrupted.
Gurren let out a deep sigh, crossing his arms and sitting back in his seat.
“Go to new planets, see new skies, meet the locals and then play golf.” Steve smiled.
“Smacking them with the broadside of your axe is not playing golf,” Lox said on the other side of Steve.
“Well, who the hell am I going to get to make me a full set of golf clubs!” Steve waved his arms about, before arresting his motion. A light of understanding filled his eyes. “Now that would be pretty cool,” Steve said in a voice that was meant for himself more than others as he turned thoughtful.
“You’re not allowed to bug anyone who is currently working, for them to build you a pair of golf clubs.” Dave gave the others in the room an apologetic look.
The Stone Raiders’ leadership chuckled and looked unperturbed by it, though, used to Steve’s antics.
“If that’s all, I think we should get back to grinding this Jukal invasion force to dust, as well as putting the pressure on those Jukal-controlled systems,” Josh said.
No one had anything else to say and they all started to disappear once again.
Dave opened up a private chat to Josh.
“What ya got, Dave?”
“I’ve got your modified blades ready, should do the job nicely. Lucy has the program we’ve built up to make the divine wells under the emperor unstable, too. However, to be sure and to ease the transfer, if you kill the emperor with your modified Xelur blades, then all his ties will be severed. There won’t be a backlash on you and the divine wells would be under your command,” Dave said.
“I’ll grab them from you as soon as I’m free.” Josh’s heart sped up.
“Works for me.” Dave cut the chat, leaving Josh with his complicated thoughts.
***
Bob looked to the three people who Air and her people were around, checking them over. They had been the people who he’d been able to revive from flying Dutchman. They looked out of sorts, but after a few minutes they looked angry rather than the blank, half-crazed look that those who used Altars of Rebirth in the empire had.
These people had been players within the Earth simulations. Now, upon dying, they had seen it as respawning and it didn’t affect them too badly. However, it was up to Air and her people to look them over to see how they were and reacted in order to know what might happen to other people who were given a new body and their memories implanted.
Bob looked away from it all and looked to a pod. He placed his hand on it, a gentle smile on his face. “Are you ready?” Bob whispered.
“Yes, Dad. It’s about time I got out from within the system. I still have the up-link and I’ll be able to access my systems through the interface. Though I want to start trying to remember everything.” Anna’s voice was soft as she consoled her father.
He tapped the top of the pod. Inside there looked to be Anna’s body. She looked similar to him in his wolfkin form that he was now using permanently. “You always were rather stubborn.” Bob chuckled as his interface appeared in the air above the pod.
He pressed a few command buttons and the room started to hum. Runic lines lit up with power directed into the pod. The humming became louder as the lights grew brighter, then at some point they stopped getting louder and brighter and they started to fade away. The light and noise died down as the top of the capsule opened.
Anna’s eyes moved, fluttering slightly as if she were struggling to wake up.
Bob held his breath as Anna fought through and her eyes finally opened. She looked at the ceiling and then over to Bob.
“Well, looks like someone slept in,” Bob said with a big smile, trying to hide his anxiety.
Anna laughed as she got up from the capsule and the revival table it was on.
Bob reached out to hold her hand, sending a spell through her body to see that everything was okay, a look of concern on his face.
“I’m fine.” Anna pat his hand as she got out of the capsule and stood upright.
Bob wasn’t able to hold it anymore. Tears filled the corners of his eyes as he wrapped Anna up in a big hug, tears on his face.
Anna was unable to stop her eyes from tearing up as she hugged Bob back, overwhelmed by the clear love he showed for her.
It was some time before he let her go and they wiped away their tears.
“Well, then, shall we get Party Zero together?” Bob asked.
Anna took a deep breath, steadying herself. “Yes, I think so.”
Bob gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, sensing her reservations. Her memories were all distorted and although she might recover them after a while, it was more likely she wouldn’t get them back.
Bob sent out messages to Party Zero and then walked with Anna, making sure that her body was fine and checking on her stat screens. He had made her body to imitate a level 500.
“In a day or two, when you’re ready, I can link your profile to your body. You’ll get all of your classes back and your items will be linked to you once again,” Bob said.
“Okay,” Anna said.
They moved through onos and teleport pads until they reached an apartment building. They made their way up, Anna following, a nervous look on her face.
Bob wasn’t sure about the whole thing and the emotional impact it would have, but it was one of the few ways he knew to jolt her memories and make her remember.
Bob led her through the apartment building before coming to a door. He knocked on the door twice and then opened it.
Inside was all of Party Zero, including Koi.
They all looked to the door, confused looks on their faces. They had teleported or come from all over the Pandora Initiative.
“There’s someone I would like you to meet.” Bob walked into the room and then moved to the side so Anna was visible to them all, looking rather nervous as she gave them a weak smile.
Everyone in the room except for Dave had blank looks. He had at least known what Bob’s plans were. Still, he couldn’t stop his eyes from becoming a bit wet as he stood and moved to Anna and hugged her. “It’s good to have you back,” he said, his voice hoarse as an alarmed Anna seemed to not know what to do with her hands.
“Umm, thanks,” Anna said. She had seen Dave and all of Party Zero in the last couple of months through her logs and she had pulled out their history. She’d been able to piece a number of things together but still she didn’t feel a connection with them. It was as if the outline was there but nothing she did could turn that outline into a real object.
“This is Anna; unfortunately, her memories have been partially lost or distorted. As you might know, there was a seed of her consciousness within the systems that ran Emerilia, basically the back door into the entire system.
“Only once the ball for attacking the Jukal was rolling was I able to activate her. If I had done it before then, she might have been detected by the other AI or one of the Jukal controllers and they might have destroyed her and known about our plan. She came online and I built her a body and got her ready to move back into it. Because of the ongoing attacks, it was unavoidable and necessary that she stay in her capacity as an AI longer than I thought. It was only today that everything was ready for her mind to be once again be uploaded to a body,” Bob said.
“You said that she lost some of her memories. Do we have any way to know which ones?” Deia asked as Dave released Anna.
Tears fell down Induca’s face as she slammed into Anna and wrapped her arms around her in a hug.
“She only has vague memories from the time when she was woken up before she met you guys. I don’t know if those memories
will come back, but I have hope,” Bob said.
“Have you told Alkao?” Malsour asked.
“I did after the news reached him. I have told him about the possibility of her coming back. That being said, I have not told him that she is awake yet,” Bob said with a heavy expression. He knew that not having Anna remember him would be a big blow to Alkao, but he also felt that Alkao would be understanding and push those worries aside in order to be with her.
One by one, Party Zero hugged Anna, their eyes wet with tears.
Malsour laughed as he hugged her. “Good to see you in the flesh once again,” Malsour said in a hoarse whisper.
Bob looked at all of Party Zero with wet eyes and he scratched his snout awkwardly. His daughter had found true friends, friends so close that they were closer than blood. They moved from tears of joy to laughter as Anna was welcomed in without reservations.
“Koi, this is your Aunty Anna.” Deia bounced Koi, who had her fingers in her mouth, looking at Anna before throwing her arms out in a hugging gesture, a beaming smile on her face.
“You want to hold her?” Deia looked to Anna.
“Could I?” Anna had a nervous look on her face, scared that she might mess up.
“Well, you’re her aunt. I need someone to look after her when I’m trying to take a nap!” Deia laughed and passed Koi over to Anna. Malsour and Induca were there, offering aid as Dave stood next to Bob.
“She’ll be okay,” Dave said, seeing through his act and hitting right in the heart of his feelings.
Bob didn’t say anything but patted Dave’s back in gratitude.
They moved to the couches and started talking. Drinks and food were produced as the darkness of war and the goings-on of the world were pushed aside. They talked about their jobs and there was a tension as their lives were inexplicably linked with the fight against the Jukal. Within minutes, that tension was replaced with warmth as they looked to Anna and Koi, who was curled up in her neck, fast asleep.
Malsour, Bob, Jung Lee, and Anna got to talking about their stories from the early days of Emerilia. Deia curled up into Dave’s side, his arm around her shoulders.
Suzy and Induca sat next to each other, captured by the stories and laughing at their exploits. Gurren, Lox, and Steve burst into the room, looking at them all.
“Beer’s in the fridge!” Dave said.
“I like him—can we keep him?” Gurren asked.
“Commander of the Devastator forces, what you think the recruits would think if they could see you now?” Lox chided Gurren. “And yes, we can keep him.”
Steve closed the door behind him and then paused. He seemed to sense something odd. His eyes went wide as he slowly turned his head, resting on Anna.
Lox and Gurren, sensing Steve’s gaze, also looked on the couch. Anna had been hidden from the door, but now that they were in the room, they were able to see Anna and the sleeping Koi.
“Am I seeing things?” Lox’s voice filled with emotion and his eyes turned wet and red.
“Anna has returned to us,” Dave said softly.
“Mom!” Steve cried out, moving toward Anna.
There was a look of complicated emotions on her face as Malsour moved Koi from her with practiced ease. Koi only shifted slightly, completely asleep.
Anna stood up, to be wrapped up in Steve’s arms.
Bob’s heart felt as though it was tearing. Steve was still mourning her loss; he hid his pain well with jokes but underneath it he was a man who had just found his mother, only to have her torn away once again.
“Hello, Steve.” Anna’s voice trembled with slight emotion. Her tiny frame was unable to wrap her hands around Steve as he hugged her gently.
For the rest of the night, Party Zero and Bob sat about, drinking and talking, bright smiles on their faces as they talked about the different adventures they’d been on, the antics they’d got up to.
Bob couldn’t keep a smile from forming on his face as the air was filled with laughter and joy.
***
Sato read the order in front of him again. Flames appeared in his hands and destroyed the report. A few months ago, he had given the okay for people to start using the Emerilia-approved and Edwards-checked nanites that would allow them to use magic and be part of the system that controlled Emerilia.
His people were stronger than ever and he had also come to learn some magic.
He pressed down on his Mirror of Communication to send out a message. A few moments later, he got a response.
He entered the Mirror of Communication, which was configured as a simple conference room. Adams, Edwards, and Council Leader Wong were there.
“I just got orders from the council ordering me to pull back our forces.” Sato glared at Council Leader Wong. Both of them looked as if they had aged decades in months; however, although Wong had a look of defeat on her face, Sato’s face was placid and his eyes were filled with fire.
“With a majority vote from the council, they are able to issue you orders without my knowledge,” Wong said.
“Well, they can take the order and shove it up their ass,” Sato growled. He was technically in charge, but he wouldn’t take that hard line unless absolutely necessary. He knew that they might think that they could walk all over him. He was fine with appearing weak, letting them show their true colors, test them, reveal their true natures and hopefully make Deq’ual stronger.
“Sato, if you do that, then you’ll be in contempt,” Wong said, leaning forward. She didn’t want him to lose his position over this. If he did, then there were a number of different commanders who were willing to take his position. However, they would be nothing but lapdogs for the different councillors.
“Well, what they hell else can we do? They want us to bring everything back but a third of our fleet. That isn’t even enough to support the Emerilians!” Sato slammed his hand into the table.
“You give the word, Commander, my people will fight for humanity, even if the council isn’t ready to do it,” Admiral Adams said.
Wong looked at Adams, shock on her face.
“We’re fighting the good fight here, ma’am. My people will fight it and take the court-martial if they have to. I know the Emerilians would accept us with open arms,” Adams said, her eyes clear and filled with authority.
“Well, it’s easy. We bankrupt the Deq’ual system,” Edwards said.
“What?” Wong asked, even more shocked. Edwards was a civilian, after all, but now he was talking about going against the very government that led the system and pushing them so that they could do nothing but help the Emerilians.
“What are you thinking?” Sato asked.
“The alliance we have calls for the support of either party in defense. There are multiple stipulations on technology we’ve shared. It’s to be used in order to advance ourselves and make us ready for fighting. Well, if we go against that agreement, then we would be going against the treaty if we were to not destroy the technology that was developed with their help.” Edwards shrugged. It was clear that he didn’t want to do it, but it would put the council in a bad position.
“You’re talking about destroying or removing all of the technology that was made with the aid of the Emerilians?” Wong said, shaken.
“Yes, the technology that certain council members have been praising us for coming up with,” Edwards said with derision.
“The Deq’ual system will not survive this way.” Sato opened up his interface and sent messages out.
“What you’re talking about is rebelling against the council!” Wong said, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“We’re not rebelling against the council. We’re fighting for humanity, and Deq’ual is not the only human group. We fight together or we die apart.” Sato pushed his finger against a button on his interface.
“What have you done?” Wong asked.
“I’ve taken all of the messages, all of the information from the council, and shared it with everyone in the Deq’ua
l system. I’ve also included private conversations between the council members about various dirty dealings they’ve done in the past. I’ve also passed out information on how to call a new election,” Sato said, his smile cold. “I’ll leave it up to the people of Deq’ual to make the right decision. If they don’t, then we’ll just leave. I don’t wish to work for people who will leave our friends out there to fight a battle that we’re a part of.”
Wong didn’t need to ask whether he was serious. She could see on all of their faces that the council had touched their weak spot.
They were true allies to Emerilia, and they would take a court-martial if they had to in order to help them.
Across the Deq’ual system, people were getting messages, and news networks got access to the documents Sato had prepared. In the space of ten minutes, emergency bulletins were going out. In twenty minutes, council members who had been taking bribes or were talking about backstabbing the Emerilians, taking their technology and such, were refusing to make a comment and others were being arrested.
In just two hours, everyone in Deq’ual knew what the council members were doing and the reporters were doing their own digging, pulling up information that Sato didn’t even know of. The next day, elections were called and people were nominated by their peers for office. Council Leader Wong remained in charge and the people who were elected weren’t politicians: they were people who worked the asteroid mines, people who built ships, and looked after the growing areas. These were the people who kept the Deq’ual stations running.
They threw their full support behind the military, leaving the matters up to them to win the war with the Jukal and assist the Emerilians as promised by the treaty.
Sato felt relief. He didn’t want to leave Deq’ual, it was his home, but there were just some things he couldn’t agree with. If it was necessary, then he would have left, because it was the right thing to do.
Chapter 10: A War on all Fronts
“Ready to teleport,” one of Forsyth’s aides said.
He looked over the plot that showed all seven fleets formed into a line of battle. His eyes fell on the Jukal that were strung out in a long line, heading for the edge of the system where they could employ their jump drives. “Weapon unlock and teleport,” Forsyth said.
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